beginer advice

hi evryone thanks for opening my thread, basicaly im working overseas atm so iv saved a fair bit of cash and had way to much time to think and im due home in a month iv bin listening to a lot of drum and bass while iv bin away and i realy want to have a go at producing my own tracks so can you tell me what il need, software, hardware etc cus iv had a look but i dont realy no what i need and whats crap . cheers

From personal experience, if you are just starting out, I think Fruity Loops is the most user friendly. However, that being said, I also think fruity loops is the least proffesional sounding (thats not saying you cannot produce a proffesional sound out of it! But you have to know what you are doing in terms of mastering the sounds!).

Steinberg's Cubase or Nuendo sound amazing, but if you are just starting out, these can be very daunting and difficult to master!

There are so many different types of production software out there that you will not be able to get a definate answer from any of us here. Most will simply tell you what they think is best, and what they use.

Your best bet would be to download the demo's of each, play around with them, and see which one you feel most comfortable with.

Start off with FL. Easy to learn, cheap and with lifetime free updates. Lot of big name producers such as Deadmau5, Spor and Skream use it. If you later down the path feel like it isn't enough for you then try options such as cubase or logic.

Hardware wise I would get a midi keyboard, the oxygen 8 v2 will do just fine, fantastic, can be used in combination with your keyboard and a channel splitter + mono to stereo converters to DJ.

If you can afford it, monitor speakers will help you greatly allowing you to really hear the result of your production work.

I would also get the vengeance pack so you've got a large number of quality drum hits to start you off, won't really need to look further than that for a year if you ask me.

Also you'll want to get a good softsynth. Massive, Albino and Predator come recommended.

Last but not least, you need a good spectrum analyzer. You can get free version but I mention this because VoxengoSpan is my favourite one and has done wonders for my production.

The whole will be around 700-800quid I reckon and you won't need to buy anything else for a long long time while you learn.

cheers mr woggles thats pretty much what i thought i would need but whats a spectrum anyliser?

Click to expand...

In its most basic form all it really is, is a db meter allowing you to see where the different levels of your track across the entire human sound spectrum. It's just really useful for seeing what parts you can get more sound from and where different frequencies are hitting. As you become more advanced in your production you will begin to understand its uses and will probably come to rely on it quite a bit.

Its a case of having a look at what feels right for you
From personal experisense i used Reason 4 for 3 years
Then found Fl8 for 2 months follwed by extensive Cubsase usage
Have a large collection of VST's which all adds to me library of sounds =]
Now im very happy =]
I recently purchased an Mbox2 Package from ebay for £200
And a pair of Mackie Hr824 MkII's for £800
Plus my mum jus upgrade her TFT monitor so i aquired her old on for extended screen!
I also found Youtube a helping hand with tutorials,
Not the ones from all the commercial Dj's but the ones from all the unknown Dj's =]

www.buzzmachines.com <- free but very very complicated to start with. the sound however is incredible in the synthesis.

if it is ease of use

Fruity Loops <- easier, but it took... ...no stole, alot of ideas and stuff from jeskola buzz. (if you look carefully at FL in its effects/generaters list it even allows you to import buzz architecture, machines, effects, gear etc through a buzz adapter)